Call for Abstracts

FQS Special Issue: Performative Social Science, May 2008

Editors

What is the aim of the issue?

The aim of the Special Issue is to bring thoughtful reflections on and manifestations of Performative Social Science (PSS). The Special Issue will be published in FQS and establish a foundational reference for the performative turn in social science.

Background

Photography, music, dance, poetry, video installations, dramatic monologues and theatrical performances have recently been added to the qualitative researcher's toolbox and "performative"—in the widest sense of the word—has become a "working title" for the dissemination efforts of researchers wanting to enhance, or even move beyond, PowerPoint conference presentations or traditional journals. Those engaging in this new "performative social science" are often changing these boundaries or pushing beyond them. These qualitative investigators are courageously developing arts-based research methods and dissemination techniques in order to both investigate deeper and reach wider audiences. This is good news, not only for participants in research studies, who can often be involved in producing subsequent performative presentations, but also for the larger community to whom findings should be directed.

We suggest "performative" rather than "performance" because performance in theatre, film, etc. has been reported in depth, particularly sociologically. Although our brief includes employing craft from theatre and film, it also looks beyond those specific disciplines, to include working within other media and utilising tools from other arts. What "performative" refers and relates to in social science is the communicative powers of research and the natural involvement of an "audience", whether that be a group of peers or a group of students, a physical audience or a cyber audience, even an individual reader of a journal or a book. We believe that these efforts deserve a foundation for this emerging aesthetic, both to ground performative social science as well as to encourage reflection on it.

Scope of the Special Issue

With any new thinking, there is always a rush to incorporate it into previous work, through categorisations, matrices, etc. With this special issue we would like to resist that and, instead, open up the discussion and possibilities of this new turn or movement (which is seen by many as having profound potential) to meaningful dialogue with all colleagues interested in PSS. The special issue welcomes experimental pieces, particularly within the possibilities offered by a web-based journal such as FQS. Any special needs (embedded video, etc.) or contributions that move the issue beyond the normal constraints and layouts of paper-based journals are welcome. The editors of FQS are happy to consult with you about the possibilities and limitations of the FQS platform. We particularly encourage contributions from a wide variety of disciplines in the social sciences.

The co-editors of the Special Issue suggest that you to think about, as a starting point, the potential of papers discussing and/or demonstrating:

• Theoretical questions—where is PSS coming from, where is it going?

• Methodological questions—how is PSS changing the way that we do research?

• Ethical questions—how do we insure that participants involved in performances of studies are ethically represented?

• Reflective questions—how do we review PSS, particularly within academic frameworks?

• Examples and manifestations of Performative Social Science

Time schedule

1 June 2007: The deadline for the Call for Abstracts has been reached. If there is need for a second call, it will be announced on this page and in the FQS newsletter. Submissions after the deadline will not be acknowledged individually. As stated below, you will be notified if the abstract has been accepted by 1 August.

1 August 2007 Authors of abstracts notified of acceptance

1 November 2008 Full papers to be submitted

Nov 2007 – Jan 2008 Peer Review of papers by co-editors; revisions recommended to authors

30 March 2008 Authors' revisions of accepted papers due

May 2008 Publication date

First point of contact: Kip Jones

You are welcome to discuss your ideas for papers informally with any of the co-editors above.

Please see the FQS Publication Guidelines at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs/fqs-e/manuskript-e.htm

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© 1999-2008 Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research
(ISSN 1438-5627)

Supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Center für Digitale Systeme, Freie Universität Berlin